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Linking Energy Policy and Scale in an Introductory Geology Course

This paper discusses the importance of teaching about energy resources in geology courses and the need for understanding scale in energy policy. It provides background information on important energy resources such as biofuels, wind, petroleum, uranium, and coal, and emphasizes the relevance of scale in various policy issues. The paper also highlights the significance of quantitative literacy in analyzing and communicating energy-related data.

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Linking Energy Policy and Scale in an Introductory Geology Course

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  1. Linking Energy Policy and Scale in an Introductory Geology CourseRichard M. KettlerDepartment of GeosciencesUniversity of Nebraska-LincolnLincoln NE Teaching About Energy in Geoscience Courses: Current Research and Pedagogy Laramie, Wyoming May 18, 2009

  2. Geol 115 The Earth’s Energy Resources Justification for course: Provide students with basic background regarding geology of important energy resources. Potential Student Background Biofuels, Wind, Petroleum, Uranium, Coal

  3. Geol 115 The Earth’s Energy Resources • Introductory course with no prerequisites • Student population is typically attempting to satisfy general education requirements in physical sciences • Students are not typically science majors • Course Goals • Students will develop an understanding of the abundance and distribution of geological energy resources.  • Students will be able to research and read news reports about energy resources, synthesize and critique those communications prepared for the general public, and communicate their analysis to a third party.

  4. Quantitative literacy-The ability to reason with data, solve quantitative problems, and understand the importance of numbers in everyday life (Wenner et al. 2009. Numeracy2: [1] Art.4.) Stars in the Tarantula Nebula NASA, The Hubble Heritage Team, STScI, AURA GPN-2000-000946

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  6. The values on the ordinate are difficult to place in context. It is necessary to do so in order to relate the policies that would yield the individual stabilization wedges to changes in our world.

  7. The Resource Pyramid Concept How big is the base? How much of the pyramid have we consumed? What do the different layers represent (e.g., conventional oil, heavy oil, tar sand, oil shale, methane hydrate)?

  8. The Famous Chevron Jack Discovery • The Jack No. 2 well, in deep water 170 miles southwest of New Orleans, recently discovered a field with perhaps 15 billion barrels of oil -- a 50 percent increase in proven U.S. reserves (George Will; Washington Post 10/19/06) • With U.S. proved oil reserves estimated to be between 21.4 billion barrels (according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration) and 29.3 billion barrels (BP Statistical Review), the upper limit (15 billion barrels) of Chevron's deepwater discovery would increase U.S. proved oil reserves between 50 and 70 percent. Washington Times Editorial 09/09/06. • A group of oil companies led by Chevron, which said last week that they had discovered a huge new oil field in the Gulf of Mexico….. The magnitude of the oil discovery — estimated in a range of 3 billion to 15 billion barrels — is likely to intensify a battle in Congress over incentives for drilling in publicly owned waters. New York Times 09/11/06. • Based on the most optimistic projections, the field contains 15 billion barrels, about 50 percent more than existing U.S. reserves. International Herald Tribune 9/15/06. • Chevron and two partners said yesterday they had conducted test drilling on a site that could turn out to harbor between 3 billion and 15 billion barrels of oil and natural gas …If the upper estimate is true, Chevron has just increased America's domestic reserve by 50%....The Senate, however, has resisted, preferring a more restrictive bill that would allow new access to fields believed to contain only about 1.125 billion barrels. Chevron has already found, at a minimum, more than twice that in its new field. NY Sun Editorial 09/06/06

  9. Some Comments on Scale xxxxxxxxxxxx To get policy right you need quantitative literacy Take time to consider orders of magnitude when you think about amounts. Typical energy unit is a Quad (1015 BTU) US used 100 Quads in 2007 (1017 BTU)

  10. Large Oil Fields Cover Large Areas

  11. www.scriblink.com

  12. “Transportation Energy Independence” Annual Transportation Energy Demand = 3x1016 BTU/yr or 1016.48 BTU/yr Ultimate Recovery from Prudhoe Bay Oil Field = 10,000,000,000 bbls or 1010 bbls Prudhoe Bay Field “transportation life” = How many giant fields per year must we find to have transportation energy independence if all oil can be converted to transportation energy

  13. US Petroleum Demand is about 20 million bbls/day US Petroleum Demand is about 7.3 billion bbls/yr World Petroleum Demand is about 31 billion bbls/yr 18

  14. Considerations of Scale are Critical to Almost All Energy Policy Issues • Greenhouse gas minimization/sequestration • Petroleum exploration in US OCS waters • Land use planning • Oil shale development • Tar sands development • Radioactive waste disposal/sequestration • The future of biofuels

  15. Conclusions • Introductory students need help with scale • Use references • Encourage “back of the envelope” calculations • Note that different parties will operate on different scales • Note relevance of scale to policy issues.

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